Vaccine Update | Mumbai civic body BMC floats global tender to acquire 1 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines

MCGM has issued a global bid to acquire 1 crore COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate the citizens of Mumbai at the earliest possible on a massive scale, MCGM Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal said.

Moneycontrol News

May 13, 2021 / 08:32 IST

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The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) on May 12 floated global tenders to acquire one crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine for Mumbai citizens at the earliest.

MCGM Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal said in a statement released on May 12: “As per consent given by Uddhav Thackeray, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, to MCGM, the municipal body has issued global bid today to acquire 1 crore COVID vaccines to vaccinate the citizens of Mumbai at the earliest possible on a massive scale in its decisive fight against COVID virus.”

Chahal added: “MCGM has resolved to make every possible effort in future also to acquire sufficient quantity of COVID vaccines to vaccinate all eligible citizens of Mumbai on a war footing in the next 60-90 days.”

On May 10, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray had directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to explore the “possibilities of global procurement” of COVID-19 vaccines for the city.COVID-19 | BMC allows walk-in vaccinations for senior citizens, people awaiting Covaxin 2nd dose

Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray had tweeted: “Looking at the need for adequate vaccines to ensure that vaccination is swift and efficient, after discussing the issue with CM Uddhav Thackeray ji, as guardian minister of Mumbai, we have asked BMC to explore possibilities of global procurement of vaccines (sic).”

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Vaccine Update | Mumbai civic body BMC floats global tender to acquire 1 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines

MCGM has issued a global bid to acquire 1 crore COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate the citizens of Mumbai at the earliest possible on a massive scale, MCGM Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal said.

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Vaccine Update | Mumbai civic body BMC floats global tender to acquire 1 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines

MCGM has issued a global bid to acquire 1 crore COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate the citizens of Mumbai at the earliest possible on a massive scale, MCGM Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal said.

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